


"Did you try turning it off and then back on again?"

by JackofAllMasterofNone



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M, Tech Support AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-22 14:11:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3731815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackofAllMasterofNone/pseuds/JackofAllMasterofNone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The i-keep-calling-tech-support-because-you’re-helpful-and-also-your-voice-is-really-cute AU (found on tumblr)</p><p>or</p><p>5 times Oliver calls Felicity for Tech Support and 1 time she calls him</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Did you try turning it off and then back on again?"

**Author's Note:**

> A few things you need to know:  
> I know nothing about how Tech Support works.  
> In this story, Oliver is not and never has been a playboy.  
> The idea for this AU is not mine!

1.

The first time he called, the solution was simple.

“Did you try turning it off and then back on again?” Felicity asked into her headset, leaning back in her swivel chair and propping her high heels on the desk.  Idly, she reached for her tablet and unlocked it, checking her email as she waited for the answer.

“Uh, no?  I know that’s the first thing everyone says to do, but I swear this problem is bigger than that,” the man on the other end of the phone line responded.

Felicity mentally sighed.  “Could you do me a favor and try turning it off and then back on?” she asked sweetly, once again hoping that her job application to Queen Consolidated went through.

There was some grumbling from the other end of the phone, then Felicity heard the rustling of fabric and the sound of a computer powering down.  After a moment, there was a new noise and she knew the computer was being powered back up.

“Now is it working?” she asked into the headset, already mentally moving on to the next job.  Something about a virus.  Easy fix.

“Yeah.  Yeah, thanks.  Sorry for wasting your time, I’ll try that first next time,” the man told her.

“Not a problem,” Felicity replied absentmindedly.  “I get paid by the minute anyway.”  Felicity closed her eyes and counted to three in her head, glad she was on the phone so the customer couldn’t see her embarrassment.  “I should not have told you that.  Well, I’m glad the problem’s fixed.  Uh…”

Felicity swore the man was a second away from laughing as he replied.  “Thanks again for the help.”

“Uh-huh,” she said meekly, and quickly hung up.

2.

The second time he called, he was prepared.

“Hello,” he said, sounding stressed.  “I already turned it off and then on again, and nothing’s happening.  The printer won’t print.”

“Hello,” Felicity replied.  “Why don’t you take a deep breath and explain what happened and I’ll see what I can do to help.”

She felt rather than heard the deep breath being taken, as a sense of calm pervaded the phone line.  

“I was in a hurry, I have these important documents to get printed for my father; they’re due down at his office any minute. I tried to print them, but the nothing’s printing,” the man explained.  “I’m kind of in a hurry, will this take long or should I just run to the nearest printer?”

“Try making sure the printer is hooked up to the computer,” Felicity coached.  “If it’s not, obviously all you need to do is hook it up.  If it is, try turning the printer off then on, and if that still doesn’t work, I would check that you have paper.  Any problems other than that, and they will take to long to fix.  I’d recommend running to the printer and calling again later.”

There was silence for a moment, other than the sound of hurried movements.  Felicity drummed her nails on the desk as she waited patiently for a reply.

After another minute, she heard the phone being picked up again.  “The cord was unhooked.  You’re a life-saver.  I hooked it up and the papers are printing now.  Thank you.”

“Not a problem!” Felicity replied in her usual style.  “I’m glad I could help.  Good luck getting to the office on time!”

“Thanks,” the man replied, and then he was gone.

3.

The third time he called, she recognized the number.

“Hello!  You’re the one with the printer problem!  Did you make it on time?”

The man laughed.  “Yes.  Yeah, I did.”  He paused for a moment, and as she was about to ask the problem, he spoke again.  “Um, my computer’s acting up again and I’m not sure what to do.  I can’t even begin to describe the problem, so I’m afraid you’ll have to run me through the list of things that might have gone wrong.”

“You already turned if off then on?” Felicity checked.

He laughed again.  She decided that he had a nice laugh.  “Yeah.  I like to think I learn from my mistakes.”

Leaning forward in her chair, Felicity grabbed her tablet and started running him through the list of the most common problems, their causes, and how to fix them.  Somewhere halfway through the list, a startled noise came from the phone.

“Are you okay?” she asked immediately.

“Yeah.  Yes,” he replied.  “I think I might have just fixed it.  Right on time too, I didn’t notice it got so late.”  Prompted by this exclamation, Felicity checked the clock on her phone.  

“Oh my gosh!” she cried.  “I only have a minute left of work!”

A sheepish chuckle floated through the phone.  “Sorry!”

“Hey, it’s your money,” Felicity told him.  “You’re funding my new couch.”  Immediately, she rolled her eyes at herself.  “Oh my goodness, how am I still allowed to speak to people?” she wondered.  “Ignore me.”  The clock changed, indicating it was time for her to clock out.  For a moment there was silence from both ends of the phone.

“Well, I’d better go,” the caller told her.  “I’m expected at a family dinner.”  He sounded less than excited about the plans.

“Ah, yes,” Felicity remarked as she placed all her items in her bag, “the fun of having everyone criticise your every move over a mediocre setting of food.”

She gathered up her phone, bright lipstick, tissues, various pens, and her tablet.  Reluctantly, Felicity put on her coat, but she didn’t leave her station.  Leaving the station meant hanging up the phone call.  She wasn’t ready to end this conversation yet, although she knew it was really dangerous talking to a stranger like this.  If he ever threatened her though, she could always track him down via his phone number and his payments to her office, and then spam his computer with some really nasty things.

“That is a really accurate description of family dinners,” laughed her conversation partner.  “Although I wouldn’t call our food mediocre.”

“The mediocre food is optional,” Felicity admitted.  She heard someone yelling from his end of the call.

“I’m coming!” he called, slightly muffled, to whoever was summoning him.  “Sorry,” he said, turning to the phone once again so she could hear him clearly.  “I’ve been summoned.”

“I should probably get going too,” she told him.  After a moment of uncertain silence, they both hung up.

4.

The fourth time he called, he called again right after she hung up.

“Hello?” she asked into the phone.  “Hello?  Is anyone there?”

There was some static, brief quiet, and what might have been a word of greeting.

“Hello?  Are you having a serious technical issue right now, or am I being pranked?” Felicity asked.  More static.  “If you can hear me, I can’t hear you.  You’ll need to go in to your phone’s manufacturer to have the problem fixed.  Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!”  Another minute full of static passed, then she hung up.  Then the phone rang.

“Hello?” she asked.

“Hey!  Sorry about the static, I got offered a new phone as part of a promotion and it doesn’t work at all.  Anyway, I don’t know if this counts as tech support, but I am looking for a new phone and wanted to know if you have any recommendations.  You’ve been really helpful with all my technological problems so far,” her favorite caller rambled in one breath.

Felicity grinned.  “Usually I’m the one rambling when people talk to me.  This is a refreshing change.”  There was a groan from the caller.  Her smile widened.  “I can help you with this problem!  I’ve had my eye on a new model of phone from Palmer Technologies.”

Before she could continue, she was cut off.  “Nothing from Palmer Tech.”

“Why?” she asked.  “Their stuff all works.”

“My parents...have an issue with… the work ethic…” he trailed off.

“Oh.  Well, in that case, Queen Consolidated has a new model of phone as well,” Felicity informed him.  “It doesn’t seem to work as well as the one Ray Palmer came up with, but it should work.”

“You’re a fan of Ray Palmer’s work?” her caller wondered, a touch of hostility in his tone.  Felicity guessed it probably wasn’t only his parents who had an issue with Palmer.

Felicity shrugged, forgetting she was on the phone.  “His tech works.  Honestly, I prefer QC, except for the phone.”

“Smart decision,” the man on the phone laughed.  “QC’s new phone is the one I just tried calling you on.  Nothing went through, apparently.”

“Gotcha,” Felicity nodded.  Grabbed her tablet, she spun in her chair and typed furiously, finding a few results for great phone models and double checking them, just to be sure.  “Well, if you’re sure about not wanting the new phone from Palmer Tech-”

“I’m sure,” he interrupted.

“-then I have a few other ones for you.  Are you near a computer?”

They spent a few more minutes discussing cell phones, and eventually he settled on one and they mutually ended the call.

5.

The fifth time he called her, he got her fired.

“The first time I called you, I actually had a problem, and the second time I was freaking out and remembered how helpful you were,” he began as soon as Felicity answered the phone.  “But then I just couldn’t stop thinking about how cute your voice is, and somehow your number popped up every time I dialed, until finally I was inventing problems so I could hear your voice.  Creepy, I know.  But I was wondering if you would possibly like to get a cup of coffee some time?  If it feels too weird, I can even ask you to look at my new phone and make sure there aren’t any problems with it.”

Felicity laughed.  “How about a dinner and a glass of wine instead?”

“You mean it?” he asked.

“Well, maybe I should know your name first,” she replied.

“I’m Oliver.  Oliver Queen.”

“Nice to meet you Oliver Queen.  I’m Felicity Smoak,” Felicity said.  “So what were you saying about wine?”

“FELICITY!” her boss roared.  “Are you making a personal call during work hours with the work number?”

“Oops,” Felicity muttered.  “Oliver, I think I’ll have to call you back.”

“YOU’RE FIRED!” the winner of the evil-boss-of-the-year award yelled.

“Fired?” Oliver asked from the other end of the phone.

“We’ll talk over dinner,” Felicity assured him.  She gathered her things and wrote Oliver’s number down on a piece of paper, tucking it neatly in her purse as she pulled on her coat.

“Hey Oliver,” she said into the headset still tucked behind her ears.

“Yeah?” he asked.

She recited her phone number and listened as he wrote down the digits.  Then she laughed.

“Call me.”

+1

The first time she called him, she was freaking out.

“I’ll be at the restaurant in a minute, I swear.  Do you know how long it takes to get a taxi?  It’s ridiculous.  Of course, I could have taken my car, but driving in heels is almost as crazy as how long taxi drivers take to notice people waiting for them.  Ugh.  Hey, you know what I just realized?  I have no idea what you look like.  None.  Oh, there’s the sign for the restaurant!”

“Fe-li-ci-ty,” Oliver said, her name rolling off his tongue.  “It will be fine.  Tonight will go great, regardless of you being a little late.  You’re not late at all, actually, I just walked in.  And you’ve seen me before.”

“I have?” Felicity asked, stepping out of the cab after paying the driver.

“You have,” he replied.  “As big-headed as it sounds, I’ve been in countless tabloids, willingly and not.  Everyone has seen my face splashed across at least one trashy magazine.  I’m Oliver Queen, remember?”

Felicity took a deep breath.  “Oh yeah.  Best friend of Tommy Merlyn, the biggest ladies’ man in Starling City.”  She paused.  “You’re cute.”

“Thanks,” he laughed.  

The moment she stepped into the building, she saw him.  His phone was still held to his ear, like hers.  Oliver’s mouth nearly dropped open, and Felicity was pretty sure she was drooling.

“Hi,” she whispered into the phone.

“Hi,” he whispered back.

At the same time, they shut off their phones.  Regardless of the notifications and calls the two received that night, the phones lay ignored in the center of the table for the rest of the date.

 


End file.
